Pretend For Me
by Lilith Rei
Summary: Pretend that we're alone, and that there is no one else. Not your country. Nothing holding us back. Now, tell me the truth.....AxC Oneshot


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny

I have done so many things in my life...slept in the desert, fought in endless wars with powerful mobile suits, faced foes of unspeakable crimes...but at this point I think I would rather face all those challenges all over again then the one I have to face now.

Standing in the line of officials and soliders waiting to greet the Archangel crew, I ran to hug my brother. Honestly, I was more worried about Kira then anyone. He is all I have left as far as family is concerned. He was always the most kind, fought the hardest, and in the end was always the one to suffer the most. When he came off the Archangel, I was glad to see a smile on his face. His smiles were always sad and empty, but they were smiles. Raksu probably believes that as well, I would not be surprised if she's the one that has healed him the most.

Then it was Athrun.

Athrun stared at me with his sad eyes. Those green eyes that I so easily fell in love with. Something about them were hypnotizing and full of expression. Not knowing what to do when I reached him, I stood there and stared at him. It was a surprise to me when he reached foreward and hugged me.

"Cagali..." he whispered in my ear, "...Cagali, I'm home..."

It was wonderful to see him again.

"Welcome home, Athrun..."

Sitting in my office that night, I was trying to make sure that the decision about to be made was the best one. Chairwoman Crystaller from ZAFT was actually the one who had put it foreward, and after some convincing on her part, I decided to accept her choice.

We were building a new army.

Chairman Dullindal and Djibrill were defeated, but there was a new war brewing. One that loomed over Orb's future, and threatening to swollow me whole. The tready with ZAFT and OMNI were the only two good things that were on my mind. It was a relief to know that I did not have to worry about ZAFT trying to blow Orb up or OMNI trying to blow us out of the water. But there was another even bigger question that was posed. Who was going to lead this new Coordinator-Natural integrated army?

Raksu refused, she said that she did not want people to associate her with war anymore. Yzak Jule were taking his position back at the council, and Kira was an automatic 'no'. Andrew Bartfield had told me that he lacked the ambition to do it, and Murrue and Neo had both told me to pick someone else. Shinn Asuka lacked experience, and I would be damned if I had to work with that brat again.

That what everyone was. Either scared, lazy, or unmotivated.

I sunk deeper into my chair, wishing that everyone would stick up for themselves a little more and not make me do all the work. There was one more option, and after trying hard to get Crystaller to forget about him, I finally agreed that he was the best option.

The door opened, and Athrun came in. It was the first chance I had gotten to talk with him seriously since the war.

"Cagali." he said, closing the door, "Kisaka-san said you were looking for me."

"Yes." I stood up. I had never been so nervous in my entire life.

Athrun watched me with curious eyes as I picked up the file folder and leaned on the front of my desk.

"There's something I wanted to ask you." I said, "Athrun...Chairwoman Crystaller and I had a chat today about the new military."

"Yes?"

"We need someone to lead it." I said, "Someone skilled, experienced, and able to handle any situation."

"Yeah..."

"Athrun..." I said, "Would you please take the job?"

Athrun stared at me like there was another head growing out of my shoulders. It was definantly not the thing he expected. For a second he shook his head like he was in disbelief. I smiled at him then, all in all I really wanted him to take it. I did not want to hire some old coot that I did not even get along with, and Athrun Zala was the only choice that ZAFT would put up with.

"Cagali-"

"Athrun." I smiled, "You can do this. You have the experience, the skills, and the commanding presence. You're the only person I can trust, and you're the only person that ZAFT would be okay with."

Athrun frowned, and turned his back to me. He was thinking about it, I could tell. He always got that look in his eyes like they cloud over, and then not even I can snap him out of it. It's better just to wait it out. After a few more minutes, he turned to me, and then he smiled.

I had challenged him.

Athrun nodded, "Alright, I'll take it."

I grinned at him, "Thank you-" I handed him the files, "-Admiral Zala."

"Admiral." he looked at the report and made a face, "That sounds weird."

"You'll always be Athrun to me." I said.

He stared at me a moment, and then the smile fadded from my face.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He was staring at me, and I was not too sure about it.

"This is the first time we've gotten to be alone since I was in the infirmary on the Archangel."

"Yeah?"

Athrun leaned foreward and kissed me. I smiled, it was good to have the old Athrun Zala back. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I laughed,

"So, what's going to be your first order of buisness, Admiral Zala?"

He stopped a moment, "Cagali?"

"What?"

"Marry me."

I stared at him a moment. I wanted to say yes so badly, but my wants were never important. What mattered was Orb, my people and THEIR wants...

"Cagali-" he laid his hands on my face, "-forget for a moment that you're ruling your own country. Just pretend that we're alone. Now answer me. Will you marry me or not?"

"I will."

It just escaped out of my lips, I could not stop myself.

"I want to marry you." I said, my hands slid over his smooth face, "I want to marry you and live the rest of my life with you."

He smiled brightly at me, "That's all I needed to hear."

I smiled back at him, and kissed his lips.

Athrun was going to be an Orb military leader. As I laid in bed that night, his arms circled around me, I thought to myeslf. Orb was going to be a lot more interesting now.

Owari

Thanks all for reading I wrote this one day when I really was bored and the college server wasn't working. grr But all that matters is that it works now, ne? I'm still pretty new to this whole thing, but I'm getting the hang of it. Thanks you again for reading. Arigato!


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